Monterey Facebook Report

The Monterey Apartments – Social Media

Main Objectives1. Develop an social media campaign to engage

residents and prospectsSpeak to audiences through technology they most use

2. Gain support of residentsProvide credibility to community

3. Draw prospects to engage in dialogueUse media to interact with prospects and deliver property’s message

Interactive Campaign

Social Media Campaign• Social media is a growing advertising medium that builds awareness

and credibility of a community through interaction between participants.

• Majority of the prospects and residents of The Monterey Apartments use the Internet as their primary means of communication.

o Average over 2,500 unique hits to the website per month through May

• It is therefore important to create a place where they can interact, both with each other and the community, ultimately encouraging renewals and new prospects to look to The Monterey for their next home.

Residents

Resident Support• Before a social media campaign can be rolled out to the public, it is

important to gain the support of residentso Residents provide credibility to the site and the community

o Unhappy residents can hijack social media and use it against the property if not on board

• The first part of the campaign focused on gaining resident support.

American Idol

Targeting residents• We targeted the residents to engage them and build the base on

Facebook.com. We began with American Idol viewing parties.

• American Idol was in the final weeks of its Season 8 show, with significant buzz about the contestants already created.

• This offered the ideal situation to leverage to reach out to the residents and engage them through a series of three American Idol viewing parties in the Multi-Media Lounge.

American Idol

Results• Each event was standing room only, with over 50 residents joining

the party.

• Between each event, we increased our Facebook.com fan membership by an average of 6 fans.

• By the end of the American Idol events, we had a strong resident base of 40 fans on Facebook.com.

• We heard many comments by residents regarding how much they liked the events, how great it was that The Monterey was doing this and they couldn’t wait to see what came next.

• Once confident of a positive response from residents, we were ready to take it to the next level and open it up to the public.

American Idol

• Direct increases in fans following each event.

• Minimal unsubscribes (only 1)

• Conclusion – events are engaging residents and make them want to be a part of the community.

American Idol

• Fan interactions peak around the events and emails.

• Conclusion – events are providing enough relevant content to engage and interact on Facebook.

American Idol

• Most interaction types are posts by fans.

• Conclusion – residents are opening up and using the tools, not being dormant fans.

American Idol

• Page views peak immediately following the event.

• Conclusion – events are driving the residents to Facebook and give them something to talk about.

Grab the Mic, Grab the Money

Opening to and Engaging Prospects• To take our social media to the next level, we created a series of happy

hour events featuring a karaoke contest in our outdoor amenity spaces.o This offered an ideal way to introduce the amenities to the public.

• Although initially planned to do a spin-off of the American Idol theme and have a “Monterey Idol” contest, we learned from the American Idol viewing parties that attendees were less interested in American Idol itself, and more interested in the camaraderie and social aspect of these events. Therefore, we toned down the theme as it related to the musical portion and played up the happy hour part to appeal to a larger audience.


Event Details• The events were to be held the first and third Wednesdays of each

month, June through September, to establish a sense of continuity and routine.o Participants and attendees would start to associate the first and third

Wednesdays with The Monterey and the event.

o This also allowed for excitement and anticipation to build between events, rather than overexposure for having it too often.

• Extending the event throughout the summer created an opportunity to build momentum for the series and leverage off each event’s success.


Event Details• The event was structured to give everyone a reason to come, while

driving traffic to Facebook.com and Twitter.com to encourage interaction and participation. o For the karaoke singers, we created the social media-driven contest for the

$250 prize.

o For non-karaoke participants, we set-up raffles where attendees could enter to win one of three $50 Visa cards per event, plus enter to win the grand prize of one year’s free rent, to be awarded at the last event in September.


Advertising• In order to reach outside of the property, we expanded our advertising efforts.

• Emails to both our resident and prospect lists, each tailored to best reach the respective target audience

• Posted information on our Facebook.com page, building on the topic each day to generate interest and engagement.

• Placed a full page ad in the music section of the Washington City Paper• Handed out flyers to prospects and residents through the leasing office• Placed a web banner on two WashingtonPost.com e-newsletters – Today’s Headlines

and Movies. • Sign spinners at Montrose Rd and Rockville Pike • Metro hawkers handing out plastic margarita glasses branded with tracking URLs

with a card briefly describing the event and encouraging recipients to fill up the glasses at the event.

• Direct mail piece targeting competitor buildings in the area.


June 3rd Results• 72 people attended the first event, despite the threatening

weather.

• Mostly residents, but a good mix of prospects as well.

• Many attendees called their friends to come and join the party during the event.

• Prospects walking past The Monterey on their way home from work stopped in to check it out and stayed the entire time.


June 3rd Results• In the five days prior to the first event, we had 96 unique referrals to the

website through our event-specific advertising pieces.

• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to the day before the next event):

• Facebook.com fan base increased 90% (from 40 to 76) with no unsubscribes.

• On Facebook.com, we had 56 interactions, with an average of two interactions per post.

• The interaction mix was almost even, with 36% of the interactions as “Comments,” 33% as “Posts” and 31% as “Likes.”

• There were a total of 674 Page Views, 218 of which were unique and 172 were related to the photos.

• The Post Quality rating remained at four to five stars throughout.


June 17th Results• 83 people attended this event, despite the rainy weather and having been

moved indoors to a smaller space.

• 23% of attendees were prospects.

• Attendees arrived with plastic margarita glasses from the metro hawkers, eager for a fill-up and interested in taking tours around the building.

• Prospects who had been at the previous event came again, including a couple that came off the street to the previous event.

• More people participated in the karaoke contest, with nine different singers during the two hour timeframe, creating a more interactive event.

• Many participants teamed up with other participants they did not know for duets.


June 17th Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to

the day before the next event):

• Facebook.com fan base increased 63% (from 80 to 130) with only five unsubscribes.

• On Facebook.com, we had 99 interactions, with an average of 2.2 interactions per post.

• The interaction mix leaned slightly towards “Likes” and “Comments” at 47.5% each, and then “Posts” at 39.4%.


June 17th Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to


• There were a total of 618 Page Views (an 8% reduction from the previous event), 249 of which were unique (an 8% increase from the previous event) and 162 were related to the photos (also a slight increase of a few percentages).




• Largest peaks of new fans around video postings and voting period.

• Minimal unsubscribes

• Conclusion – events are engaging attendees and voting contest is interesting and relevant content to them.


• Fan interactions peak immediately following the events until announcement of winner.

• Conclusion – contest is engaging to attendees and offers reason for them to interact.


• Interaction types are spread out, with all types used.

• Conclusion – residents are interacting in a lot of different ways, and again, are not dormant fans.


• Page views peak immediately following the events until announcement of winner.

• Conclusion – events are driving the residents to Facebook, and fans are looking throughout the site, not just the homepage.


July 1st Results• 71 people attended this event, despite the rainy weather.

• This was the Wednesday prior to July 4th, with many people in the DC metro area leaving town early or preparing to leave town early for a long weekend as July 4th was on a Saturday.


• Even though the event was outside and it rained for a portion of the time, none of the guests left the event.

• Advertising in one WashingtonPost.com e-newsletter resulted in 71 click-throughs to TheMontereyApartments.com prior to the event.


July 1st Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to


• Facebook.com fan base increased 10% (from 130 to 143) with only two unsubscribes.


• The interaction mix leaned heavily towards “Posts” at 55.4%, then “Comments” at 30% each, and “Likes” at 13.8%.


July 1st Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to


• There were a total of 691 Page Views (a 12% increase from the previous event), 155 of which were unique (a 38% reduction from the previous event) and 212 were related to the photos (a 31% increase from the previous event).



July 15th Results• 88 people attended this event

• This was the first sunny day of the event, with no threat of rain.


• Despite not having hawkers handing out plastic margarita glasses at the metro, several people still arrived with them, which tells us they saved them from a previous encounter with the hawkers at the metro and made a point to come to the event at a later date.


July 15th Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to


• Facebook.com fan base increased 14% (from 143 to 163) with only one unsubscribe.


• The interaction mix leaned heavily towards “Posts” at 74.4%, then “Comments” at 14% each, and “Likes” at 9.3%.


July 15th Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to


• There were a total of 968 Page Views (a 40% increase from the previous event), 201 of which were unique (a 30% increase from the previous event) and 150 were related to the photos (a 29% reduction from the previous event).




• Increase in fans occurred after winner was announced.


• Conclusion – people are engaging even beyond the voting contests.





• Interaction types are becoming more focused on posts.

• Conclusion – Monterey fans are not dormant fans but rather interested and engaged in the social media.


• Page views are starting to spread out more throughout the month, rather than focused on the event cycle.

• Conclusion – people are engaging and using Facebook.com even beyond the voting contests.


August 5th Results• 85 people attended this event

• This event was held inside due to the high humidity and threat of rain.

• We anticipated a smaller turnout for the August events since the DC metro area slows down considerably due to large increase in out-of-town vacations.

• As a result, we did not use sign spinners as an advertising means.


• Several guests commented on how much they enjoyed the event inside. The smaller space clearly did not negatively impact the event.

• A few guests arrived with the direct mail piece in hand. The previous drop for the piece was prior to the July 15th event, so clearly the guests held onto them and made a plan to attend an event at a future date.


August 5th Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to


• Facebook.com fan base increased 15% (from 163 to 187) with only four unsubscribes.

• On Facebook.com, we had 10 interactions, with an average of .5 interactions per post.

• The interaction mix leaned slightly towards “Likes” and “Comments” at 47.5% each, and then “Posts” at 39.4%.




• There were a total of 618 Page Views (an 8% reduction from the previous event), 249 of which were unique (an 8% increase from the previous event) and 162 were related to the photos (also a slight increase of a few percentages).



August 19th Results• 88 people attended this event

• This was the first sunny day of the event, with no threat of rain.


• Despite not having hawkers handing out plastic margarita glasses at the metro, several people still arrived with them, which tells us they saved them from a previous encounter with the hawkers at the metro and made a point to come to the event at a later date.

• Sign spinners also were not utilized as August is historically the month most DC residents leave town for vacation.




• Facebook.com fan base increased 12% (from 187 to 209) with zero unsubscribes.


• The interaction mix leaned heavily on “Likes” and “Comments” at 43.5% each, and then “Posts” at 12.8%.




• There were a total of 611 Page Views (a 1% reduction from the previous event), 123 of which were unique (a 50.6% reduction from the previous event) and 77 were related to the photos (a 52.5% reduction from the previous event).

















September 2nd Results• 135 people attended this event

• This event was held outside, with gorgeous weather.

• Sign spinners and metro hawkers were employed for this event


• Out of the attending prospects, “friends” and “word of mouth” contributed to 75% of the guests.

• Sign spinners and metro hawkers were good sources of traffic as well, as many people commented on seeing them and interacting with them.


September 2nd Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to


• Facebook.com fan base increased 31.5% (from 187 to 246) with only two unsubscribes.


• The interaction mix leaned heavily towards “Likes” at 55.9%, then “Posts” at 35.3% and then “Comments” at 8.9%.


September 2nd Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to


• There were a total of 961 Page Views (a 57.2% increase from the previous event), 198 of which were unique (an 60.9% increase from the previous event) and 267 were related to the photos (a 246.7% increase from the previous event).



September 16th Results• 163 people attended this event

• The weather seemed tenuous, although the rain did hold off.

• We also extended this event until 8pm since it was the last event.

• This is the event where the grand prize drawing was held.

• We were unable to capture the percentage of attendees as all sign-in cards were combined with those from previous events for the grand prize drawing.


September 16th Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to

one and a half weeks following):

• Facebook.com fan base increased 24.4% (from 209 to 260) with only three unsubscribes.


• The interaction mix leaned heavily towards “Likes” at 51.5%, then “Posts” at 27.9% and then “Comments” at 14.7%.


September 16th Results• Following the event (the timeframe from the day of the event to


• There were a total of 642 Page Views (a 33.2% reduction from the previous event), 198 of which were unique (a 40% reduction from the previous event) and 117 were related to the photos (a 56.2% increase from the previous event).
















Social Media

Usage by Fans• Tools are being used for more than event-related content.

o Have received multiple inquiries into specials, availability and unit types from both Facebook.com and Twitter.com.

o Questions have been posted for the leasing office, and subsequent answers by other residents, regarding the opening of the pool.

o Polls have been taken to determine interest levels in additional activities, such as the Strathmore event.

o Fans have used tool to organize own social events, such as a poker party, and recommend future events.

Social Media

Usage by Fans• Fans have used their pictures from the event for their main

photo on Facebook.com.

• We received 101 unique web referrals from Facebook.com to TheMontereyApartments.com through September 27th.

The Monterey Apartments – Social Media

The social media campaign is effective. Residents and prospects have joined the tools, with both parties using them to interact, engage in dialogue, and become a part of The Monterey community.

Any Questions?

Documents

Monterey Facebook Report